INSIDE: CLASSIFIEDS, MARKET RECAP & WEATHER
B
S PORTS
THE BULLETIN • SUNday, MarcH 28, 2021
COLLEGE
SPORTS
NCAA chair: Emmert
doing a good job
The chairman of the
NCAA’s Board of Gov-
ernors gave President
Mark Emmert a vote of
confidence Saturday, say-
ing the association’s top
governing body was sat-
isfied with how he has ad-
dressed inequities in the
college basketball tourna-
ments and with his lead-
ership through a tumultu-
ous 10 days.
Georgetown University
President Jack DeGioia told
The Associated Press the
board met Friday, along
with the Division I Board
of Directors, to hear from
Emmert and discuss issues
that have cast a shadow
over the tournaments.
With a recent TikTok
video that went viral, Ore-
gon’s Sedona Prince gave
fans a glimpse of the dis-
parity in training equip-
ment provided to men’s
and women’s teams.
DeGioia said Emmert
decided to hire a law firm
to review potential gender
equity issues related to
how the NCAA conducts
all its men’s and women’s
championship events.
Emmert told the AP
on Friday that a lack of
communication between
staffs working on each
event and a focus on
COVID-19 protocols led to
oversights and inequities.
Emmert’s contract runs
through October 2023.
The 68-year-old former
president of the University
of Washington and chan-
cellor at LSU is in his 11th
year leading the NCAA.
bendbulletin.com/sports
PREP FOOTBALL
Mountain View survives Summit scare
Cougars beat Storm
7-3 Friday night
BY BRIAN RATHBONE
The Bulletin
In his pregame speech, Mountain
View football coach Brian Crum told
his players that 25 years from now, they
were going to remember the night they
squared off against cross-town rival
Summit.
For 45 of the 48 minute game of the
Cougars’ 7-3 win over the Storm Friday
evening, it looked as though the “classic
high school football game” was going to
be a game the team would rather forget
instead.
“We had a hard time getting out of
our way,” said Crum. “Nine guys were
doing their jobs and two were not.”
Mountain View’s offense had been
humming entering Friday’s matchup
on their home turf, averaging 40 points
per game in their three prior games.
Senior running back Luke Roberts was
leading all, putting up video game-like
numbers with over 400 yards and a
6A-leading nine rushing touchdowns,
while junior quarterback Jakoby Moss
had tossed seven touchdown passes in
three games.
Yet, with just a tick over three min-
utes left in the game, the vaunted Cou-
gar offense was stuck in neutral and had
been kept off the scoreboard. Luckily
for Mountain View, the Summit offense
had a similar fate against the Cougar
defense.
“It was frustrating not being able to
move the ball and not score,” said Moss.
“Our defense kept us in there. Hats off
to them, they played lights out.”
But trailing with three minutes re-
Sweet rematch
OREGON STATE 65
LOYOLA CHICAGO 58
Oregon, USC eager to face off Sunday after Pac-12 championship
Beavers
bound
for Elite
Eight
BY DAVE SKRETTA
AP Basketball Writer
Both those trends were uncharacteris-
tic as USC is not a prolific three-point
shooting team but Tahj Eaddy took and
made season-highs by going 6 of 11 that
night, and Oregon was flat on both ends
for much of the first half before closing
the gap to 10 and having a shot to get it
down to seven but could never make it
truly competitive.
INDIANAPOLIS — Ethan
Thompson scored 20 points,
including a pair of clinching
foul shots with 35 seconds
left, and No. 12 seed Oregon
State kept its dream March go-
ing with a 65-58 victory over
eighth-seeded Loyola Chicago
in the Sweet 16 of the NCAA
Tournament on Saturday.
Warith Alatishe added 10
points and 11 rebounds for
the Beavers (20-12), who were
picked to finish last in the Pac-
12 but ran roughshod through
the conference tournament and
have kept on winning on col-
lege basketball’s biggest stage.
They’re headed for their first
Elite Eight since 1982 — one
that was later vacated by the
NCAA — and will play sec-
ond-seeded Houston or No.
10 seed Syracuse on Monday
night for a spot in the Beavers’
first Final Four since 1963.
Not even the fervent prayers
of Sister Jean could help Loyola
(26-4) deal with the constantly
changing defenses that Ore-
gon State coach Wayne Tin-
kle rolled out. The Ramblers,
who played with such poise
and perfection in toppling
top-seeded Illinois, wound up
shooting 33% from the field
and 5 of 23 from beyond the
arc.
See Rematch / B3
See Elite / B3
Dirt race disaster?
NASCAR tries fixes
— Bulletin wire reports
See Football / B3
MEN’S COLLEGE BASKETBALL | NCAA TOURNAMENT
MOTOR SPORTS
NASCAR feverishly
tried to save its bally-
hooed first Cup Series dirt
race since 1970 from turn-
ing into a total disaster,
the likes not seen since
the 2008 tire debacle at
Indianapolis made for one
of the worst events in the
sport’s history.
The Cup Series is slated
to race Sunday at Bristol
Motor Speedway, where
2,300 truckloads of red
Tennessee clay have filled
the famed bullring for an
experimental — some
might allege gimmick —
stab at grassroots racing.
But the dirt, the 28-de-
gree Bristol banking and
the leaden 3,400-pound
cars appear to be a ter-
rible fit.
Yes, drivers had a blast
playing in the dirt, some
for the first time since
they were kids. But four
Friday practice sessions
ultimately showed the
tires can’t sustain the
heavy wear. The three
layers of dirt acted as a
cheese-grater and the
tires in turn dug deep div-
ots into the surface.
NACAR made several
procedural changes Sat-
urday in a desperate bid
to save the show.
NASCAR extended the
first stage by 25 laps, the
second stage by 50 laps
and added two competi-
tion cautions. It also allot-
ted teams one extra set
of tires.
The added competi-
tion cautions create ad-
ditional opportunities for
track prep.
NASCAR is also facing
weather challenges —
heavy rain drenched the
dirt and delayed the start
of Saturday activity be-
fore ultimately washing
it out entirely. The heat
races for both Cup and
Trucks were scrapped and
the Truck Series will run
after the Cup race for a
Sunday doubleheader.
maining, it was the offense’s turn to pick
up a defense that had given them one
final drive. Moss knew it was go time.
“I’m just telling myself that this is what
you have worked so hard for,” Moss said.
“All the grind, all the weekends doing
7-on-7 — this is what it is for.”
Suddenly, the offense clicked. The of-
fensive line gave Moss the time needed
to hit his receivers who had broken
open. With 30 seconds left in the game,
Roberts plunged in from a yard out to
give the Cougars their only points of
the game.
Jack Dempsey/NCAA Photos via Getty Images
Oregon coach Dana Altman looks on during a second-round game against Iowa in the NCAA Tournament on Monday at Bankers Life Field-
house in Indianapolis.
BY JAMES CREPEA
The Oregonian
INDIANAPOLIS —
I
t’s the matchup both teams
wanted, perhaps a round or
two earlier than preferable,
but Oregon and USC will face off
for a trip to the Elite Eight.
The No. 7 seed Ducks won the regular
season Pac-12 championship by virtue
of win percentage after going 14-4 in
conference play and guard Chris Duarte
was named AP Pac-12 player of the year.
The No. 6 seed Trojans finished sec-
ond in the conference at 15-5 despite
the head-to-win over UO on Feb. 22,
after which they went 2-2 while Oregon
went 5-0, and center Evan Mobley swept
the Pac-12 player of the year, defensive
player of the year and freshman of the
year awards from the league’s coaches.
Losing 72-58 at USC last month
sparked Oregon’s late-season run and
Sunday’s matchup in the Sweet 16 pro-
vides a chance at redemption as well as
the right to advance.
“I’m very excited,” Ducks forward Eu-
gene Omoruyi said. “I wanted this game
in the Pac-12 tournament; we couldn’t get
it there. I’m just happy to get it now. I’m a
competitor and I’m ready to go, I’m ready
to play them. We’re just locked in as a unit
to come out here and compete.”
Oregon was nearly run out of the Ga-
len Center by the Trojans, who opened
on a 15-0 run and effectively ended the
game before the Ducks even scored.
“When you’re not successful you
want another opportunity. ... I’d be
really disappointed if the guys didn’t
feel that way because I know our
coaching staff is looking forward to
the opportunity.”
— Oregon coach Dana Altman
WOMEN’S COLLEGE BASKETBALL | NCAA TOURNAMENT
Oregon finally found an identity; how far can the Ducks go?
BY JAMES CREPEA
The Oregonian
Oregon stumbled its way into the
NCAA Tournament, losing five of six
games, and lost its point guard to injury.
A season-long search for an identity
seemed futile as the Ducks left the Pac-12
tournament after just one game.
But in the two-plus weeks that elapsed
between the second loss to Oregon State
in as many games and the opening round
NCAA Tournament matchup with South
Dakota on Monday, Oregon (15-8) found
what it has been searching for: A lineup
that maximizes its talent.
The Ducks have used their size advan-
tage inside with Sedona Prince and Nyara
Sabally, the perimeter shooting of Erin
Boley and Taylor Mikesell and defense of
freshman Maddie Scherr and it’s led them
past South Dakota and Georgia and back
to the Sweet 16.
“We’ve changed the way we’ve attacked
the game,” Oregon coach Kelly Graves
said. “About middle of the season, mid-
Pac-12 we decided to go with a bigger
lineup thinking if we want to be successful
in the NCAA Tournament, we’re going
to need Sedona and Nyara to be big for
us because they’re going to be a load for
team.”
See Identity / B3
Oregon’s Erin
Boley (21) and
Georgia’s Maya
Caldwell (11)
chase a loose
ball during
the second
round of the
women’s NCAA
Tournament
on Wednesday
at the Alamo-
dome in San
Antonio, Texas.
Mark Sobhani/
NCAA Photos